The willingness to pay for agricultural irrigation water and the influencing factors in the Dujiangyan irrigation area: An empirical double-hurdle model analysis

Abstract

Water prices are an efficient way to manage and allocate water resources. A scientific and reasonable water price standard can assist farmers to optimize their water allocations and ensure an efficient agricultural water system. However, under the current agricultural water pricing policy, it is difficult for water resource management departments to achieve sustainable operation because of unreasonable water price standards and the unwillingness of farmers to pay for agricultural irrigation water. Therefore, to ensure the sustainable management of agricultural water departments, it is important to design scientific and reasonable water price mechanisms that give full play to the regulatory role of agricultural water prices and encourage farmers to pay agricultural water fees. Based on survey data from 335 farming households in the Dujiangyan Irrigation Area, Sichuan, China, in 2019, a double-hurdle model was used to assess the willingness to pay for agricultural irrigation water. The willingness to pay was positively impacted by age, education level, willingness to participate, the arable land area, the water fee proportion, and water-saving awareness but negatively impacted by the water price standard and the farmers’ perceptions of the water price standard. Based on these results, to encourage farmers to participate in and afford agricultural water payments and to give full play to the water price adjustment function and other countermeasures, it is proposed that 1) water-saving awareness training be strengthened; 2) agricultural modernization be promoted; and 3) water price standards be scientifically and rationally formulated.

Co-financing irrigation water services: farmers' perspectives in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam

“…Meanwhile, the number of laborers and rice growing area was entirely separated from farmers' willingness to pay for efforts to avoid water scarcity (p = 0.109, p = 0.587, respectively). While this result corresponds well with Gravitiani et al (2016) conclusion that family size had no significant influence, it contradicts the findings of Tang et al (2022) that households with a larger cultivated land area are more willing to support irrigation water improvement.…”

“…Perceived benefits are a crucial factor affecting individuals' willingness to pay for improvement, such as the health benefits of clean water (Brox, Kumar, & Stollery, 1996;Genius et al, 2008). Farmers are more willing to pay for pollutant-free irrigation, boosting yields, and reducing losses (Alhassan, 2012;Tang et al, 2022). Alhassan's (2012) study found that farmers recognizing irrigation's benefits to crop yields, income, and food security are more inclined to pay for it.…”

“…Various studies highlighted how respondents' household characteristics influence willingness to participate in and pay for water-based ecosystem services. Characteristics such as age, gender, education level of the household head, and cultivated land area are key predictors of willingness to pay (Biswas & Venkatachalam, 2015;Gebretsadik & Romstad, 2020;Phan, Bertone, Pham, & Pham, 2021;Rodríguez-Tapia et al, 2017;Tang et al, 2022;Hien, Kien, & Koji, 2023). For instance, older individuals show more concern about water quality and are willing to pay for improvements, while higher education levels correlate with increased willingness to pay for urban domestic water supply (Rodríguez-Tapia, 2017;Bui et al, 2022).…”